The North Bay Airport & WWII
In 1942, three years after the outbreak of WWII, the Royal Air Force Ferry Command (RAFFC) established a special flying school at the airport. All runways were paved in asphalt, and airmen from 23 nations were taught how to pilot and navigate across the Atlantic Ocean in order to ferry thousands of aircraft from Canadian and American factories to war zones around the globe. The vast northern Ontario landscape was used as a substitute in training for dangerous transatlantic flights.
During the same time, the Royal Canadian Air Force established a seven-man detachment at the airport and in 1943 North Bay’s first air traffic control was set up. With the end of WWII in 1945, the RAF and RCAF left North Bay and air traffic control was shut down. The RAF donated all of its buildings, vehicles and facilities to the North Bay airport.
A summary board of students’ progress. A mark was placed beside the students’ names (on the left) to indicate the lectures and tests they had completed.
Courses were three to four weeks long, and upon completion, the airmen traveled to Dorval, Quebec for their final examination.
Doug Newman, 22 Wing Heritage Officer
Airmen from around the world attending a Trans-Atlantic flying and navigation lecture.
Doug Newman, 22 Wing Heritage Officer
Airmen from the RAF flying school returning from a night training flight.
Doug Newman, 22 Wing Heritage Officer
RAF flying school students preparing a Hudson twin-engine bomber in the sunset for a night training flight.
Training was conducted at night to replicate the actual ferry flights across the Atlantic Ocean, which departed at dusk in order to arrive in Europe in the morning daylight.
Doug Newman, 22 Wing Heritage Officer
The North Bay Airport, 1943.
The terminal is the white building on the right and the Trans-Canada Air Lines hangar is to its left. The buildings further beyond were part of the RAF Trans-Atlantic flying school.
Doug Newman, 22 Wing Heritage Officer
North Bay Airport Runway and Terminal
This aerial photo shows the airport and runways during the Second World War. The City of North Bay and Lake Nipissing can be seen at the top of the image.
Doug Newman, 22 Wing Heritage Officer